Arsenal’s Arteta praises Eze efforts behind the scenes

Arsenal coach Mikel Arteta has praised Eberechi Eze for the contribution he is making even without playing at the moment.

The England international joined Arsenal from Crystal Palace in the summer and has contributed five goals and two assists so far, including a memorable hat-trick against Tottenham.

However, Eze has had to content himself with being an unused substitute for the last few matches, leading to understandable questions about the situation.

However, Arteta made it clear that he still rates Eze really highly, describing the “tremendous” spirit the 27-year-old has behind the scenes to return to the team.

Mikel Arteta praises Eberechi Eze for his efforts behind the scenes

Speaking in his press conference ahead of Arsenal’s match against Liverpool, Arteta had nothing but positive things to say about Eze when asked about continuing to leave him on the bench.

It’s clear that the Spanish coach has not given up on Eze just yet, and fans will be happy with what looks like a great response from the player to missing out on starting matches recently.

“Ippes has been exceptional when he is playing and when he is not playing, and that is a big quality we have in the team,” Arteta said.

? Mikel Arteta praised Eberechi Eze’s “tremendous” efforts behind the scenes! ?? pic.twitter.com/q028MtTH3G

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When asked to explain what he meant by Eze being exceptional when he’s not playing, Arteta explained: “Because his level of desire goes up.

“The way he trains every day, the way he wants to, the way he wants to do whatever it takes to change my mind.

“He was exceptional, and that’s not easy.

“I’m very confident that we will see a great version of Ebs.”

Eberechi Eze struggles to break down Martin Odegaard

See below for a good comparison of how much Martin Odegaard offers centrally, which has certainly made it difficult for Eze to start games now that the Norway international is back from injury…

Of course, Eze can also provide quality out wide, so that could mean he still has a chance to start alongside Odegaard, rather than competing with him.

However, we can also see from the graphic below that Leandro Trossard is having a fantastic season for Arsenal, and is also offering more than Eze when starting out wide…

Eze is undoubtedly a good player, as we saw at Crystal Palace, but it is not entirely clear what his best position is and whether he truly fits the specific requirements that Arteta is looking for either in the middle or out wide.

It will be interesting to see how this develops as the season continues, but it seems like Arteta still expects big things from Eze even if he hasn’t used him recently.